A St. Louis Man Was Arrested for Threatening Boston Over Twitter
St. Louis Police arrested a man for threatening tweets he sent aimed at Boston, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Robert Metzinger, 31, was charged with making terrorist threats after he sent out messages that some interpreted as suggesting there would be violence during a World Series game in Boston.
Metzinger’s Twitter account appears to have been deleted, but it seems that some of the offending messages were retweeted by Twitter users@BestFansStLouis and @wtfstlouis, and thus remain viewable. According to the retweeters (we can’t verify that they didn’t alter or invent his words), Metzinger said the following regarding the World Series:
(Deleted) RT “@bobbymetzinger: The #WorldSeries will be another finish line not crossed by #Boston.”
— Baseball’s Best Fans (@BestFansStLouis) October 22, 2013
(deleted) MT”@bobbymetzinger: Putting my loft up for a ridiculous “Boston-only” rate for the #WorldSeries. Pressure cooker sold separately.”
— Baseball’s Best Fans (@BestFansStLouis) October 22, 2013
@Group360ww RT @bobbymetzinger: Listening to the Offspring’s “Bad Habit” and the lyrics just ring true of what will go down very soon.
— WTF St. Louis (@wtfstlouis) October 25, 2013
For context, The Offspring song referenced there is about gun violence, and that is apparently one that spurred a Deadspin tipster to report Metzinger to the police. The Post-Dispatch says that Metzinger’s former employer, marketing firm Group 360 Worldwide, informed police of the messages, too.
Digging further into his past, Deadspin says that Metzinger is actually a diehard Yankees fan, rooting for the Cardinals for obvious reasons. He also, they note, once received praise from a local media outlet for the social media savvy he displayed while trying to find a job in PR, which … well, he’s still receiving news coverage for his social media behavior, that’s for sure.
And while you should always be aware of yourself on big nights like this one, take at least some heart that Boston is deploying thousands of officers around town for today’s rather insane confluence of events.
